Obama, Democratic Senators to meet on immigration

President Barack Obama plans to meet this week with Democratic senators trying to hammer out a bipartisan immigration deal, a fresh sign of White House involvement as back-channel talks gather steam.

According to several participants in the talks, the four senators in the group — Chuck Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Robert Menendez of New Jersey — plan to brief the president on the status of the negotiations later this week at the White House. The move comes as members of the so-called Gang of Eight senators report that they are making progress in the hopes of unveiling a detailed legislative proposal as early as next month.

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A White House official and sources involved in the talks confirmed that the session would take place this week, though they declined to be more specific.

Asked about the purpose of this week’s meeting with the president, Durbin said the group agreed to keep the president apprised of the negotiations following Obama’s speech in Las Vegas last month where he said he’d produce his own bill if action stalls in Congress.

“We’ve worked closely with him and kept him posted on where we were,” Durbin said. “And his decision to address the Nevada gathering on immigration a little differently, I think was an effort to work with us. So we want to keep the cooperation alive.”

Durbin expected that Obama would tread carefully as lawmakers try to keep together a fragile coalition ahead of an uphill battle to get the measure through Congress.

“It’s a delicate balance between the Republican Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, the executive, the legislative — so far we’ve manged to keep it together,” Durbin said.

Republican senators in the group said Tuesday they welcomed presidential engagement in the negotiations.

“I think it’s helpful,” said Arizona Sen. John McCain, one of four GOP senators in the talks. “The president has a significant role to play.”

Added Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: “Obviously, he’s an important part of it — he’s got to ultimately decide to sign or veto whatever we produce.”

Still, Rubio said the focus will be on Capitol Hill — not the White House — as the talks move forward.

“But I think the solutions to this problem are going to come of the legislative branch,” Rubio said in an interview.

The eight senators unveiled a five-page outline last month that would dramatically reform the legal immigration system and begin to provide permanent residency to the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. But the pathway to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants would be contingent on new border security and enforcement mechanism.

Many of the details still have to be ironed out, and the senators have been meeting behind closed doors to do just that. The senators hope to unveil the proposal next month in advance of Senate Judiciary Committee action in the spring, followed by floor action likely this summer.